The Just Shall Live By Faith

By: D. A. Slinkard

I want to start off by thanking the readers of this article for the kind words you have shared with me pertaining to your appreciation for my articles. I must admit there are times, especially in the world we live in, it is extremely hard to be a positive voice in such a tumultuous environment we are seeing. We recently celebrated the 244th year of independence the great United States of America has had. It was an exciting time to be surrounded with family, eating hotdogs, watching the kids shoot off fireworks. It was great because we were able to escape the realities of what is occurring around us.

Before I sat down to write this article, I was enraged to watch a video of an angry mob of people who were defiant to police officers in New York; and I became even more appalled when one of the officers was placed in a headlock. I could not help but think to myself how far our society has fallen. When our police are seen as the enemy, you know we are in some bad times. I admit there are bad police officers throughout the United States, but not every person putting on a vest and wearing a badge is the enemy. My family – we back the Blue!

I am amazed at how because of a few bad apples, we want to ostracize the rest. There is a hatred for the police throughout our country; yet when 9/11 happened, the public outcry was, “It was just a few Jihadist Muslims and we should not lump the entire Muslim population as terrorists.” The same should be said for the police. We need them; we need not be disrespectful to them because they put their life on the line with every shift. If you disagree with these words, please know that you are part of the problem we are having in our society.

The next reality I have found is we have a fear of COVID-19 like no other fear I have seen. If people throughout the world would fear God the way they fear COVID-19, we would be living in a much different world. The reality is that we are a nation that is moving farther away from God. We cannot expect His blessings until we move back towards Him. I recently heard a comedian say, “We live in a culture that cannot laugh anymore. Everybody is so thin-skinned, so sensitive; everyone is so filled with intolerance that they hate each other.”

The issue we have in America is that we do not fear God. We do not fear Him when it comes to our lifestyles; we do not fear Him when it comes to obedience to God’s Word. Right now everything is about the safety of the public and what can we do to limit the number of deaths because of COVID-19. Sounds good – where is the outcry about the million abortions that will be performed this year? One million babies will be murdered in the womb – what are we doing to limit the number of innocent babies being killed?

We, as a country, are facing some tough times right now, and it is not going to get any easier. It is time for Christians to stand up and stop being quiet. We need to get back to the fundamentals of what the Bible teaches. Yet, too many Christians do not want to be bothered with what is happening on in the world. We want our sports, we want our hobbies, we want the things that distract us from what we should be focusing on. If Christians would get busy serving the Lord and doing what God wanted, we would see a revival take place throughout the land.

I write these words, and I am not embarrassed by my acceptance that we, as a society, need Jesus; yet if you speak this too loudly, you are labeled an extremist. I just believe what God’s Word says. Romans 1:16-17 states: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
What are you living by? What are you trusting in? The problems we face today, can be fixed but it begins within our own homes. We must seek Jesus.
By: D. A. Slinkard